EARLY TAILGATE plus LATE BIRTHDAY PARTY

A friend invited me for a birthday dinner at Assagio, which also suffices as the first tailgate of the week, for tonight features Hawaii women's volleyball versus West Virginia and NFL football with Tampa Bay visiting Carolina (but you need to have access to the NFL channel), then on Saturday, the undefeated Hawaii football team plays at Washington, and later that day, the undefeated Rainbow Wahine volleyball team entertains UCLA.  The 15 Craigside poker group had our dinner at this same restaurant last month.

We had an Opolo Mountain Zinfandel, which both of us liked better than the Chateau Lafite Rothschild we experienced earlier this year.  Why mountain is that the grapes come from the hills close to Paso Robles.  The wine is dark, rich, fruity, but soft.  Typically Opolo is at around 16% alcohol, but our bottle was 15.9%.

I had a Capellini Puttanesca, with a bowl of Vichyssoise, combining hot and cold.  At one time I best liked this angel hair pasta, but now am beginning to better appreciate the al dente character of thicker noodles.  Assaggio is noted for the bread they serve, and we arranged to bring home two loaves.  Forgot to take a photo of the candle on the ice cream pie.

Like many pasta dishes, puttanesca has a history.  One story is that a restaurant owner suddenly had a bunch of guests late one night, so he merely combined whatever he had in his kitchen.  Another has to do with puttana, which in Italian means whore.  Puttanesca is a quick and easy pasta sauce to make between customers.  In short, tomato sauce, anchovy, olives and capers over whatever pasta you choose.  Assaggio does a good job.

My birthday gift was a dragon bottle of Napoleon Cognac:

So embarrassing, but we couldn't figure out how to open it.  She'll find out and return.  So we settled for Suntory Toki.

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Our oceans are relatively calm now, but there is potential for some development in the Gulf of Mexico:

In the East Pacific, a hurricane will form off Mexico, but will peter out quickly.

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THE VIKING TIR: From Germany to Austria

 The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4% on Friday, and broke its all-time high, rising 189 to 44,911.  The S&P 500 also got to a record high, increasing 0.6%.

Donald Trump is also on a roll.  Amazon has a wide assortment.

I go to the Orient a lot, and the dollar to yen exchange rate the past year has been great.  Up to 160 yen/dollar.  Today, still a good 150 yen to the U.S. $.

However, I'm in in Europe, and the $ to Euro rate is now close to parity. 

Well, not quite today, for you need to pay $1.05 to the Euro today.  But equality occurred in 2022 after a period of 20 years, and remains in this range.  So both Europe and Japan are good places to visit these days to get value for your dollar if you live in the USA.  Unfortunately, this good fortune does not work the other way around for those in Japan and Europe,

Okay, the Viking Tir was repaired, I think, and we are on our way to Melk, Austria.  A few photos.  Last night we had a goodbye German supper.

Appetizers.

My dinner.

Desserts.

That black piece is a Sachertorte.

Evening ended with Schnapps, which refers to any kind of strong, dry spirit.  Typically, they include fruit brandies, herbal liquers and so on.  Served in a tiny glass, you consume it all in one quick slug, and yell anything from prost to whatever.

After dinner, we found out that the company decided to open up its bar because of the accident.  Drinks that cost $18/half shot were now free.  We were entertained by our Program Director Steve, who we think might well be the most valuable staff player here on the Viking Tir, but also on any cruise we've so far had.  He was a former professional singer.

We did not buy a drinks package because wine and beer comes free with lunch and dinner.  The alcoholic drinks however, are very expensive.  Just a typical HALF jigger of scotch can cost you up to $17.  Here are two price lists.  These are half a jigger prices, and we were served full jiggers and doubles.

The staff was very generous.

At one point, we were accumulating drinks.

I finally settled on Glenmorangie, Highland Park and Macallan Whiskies, plus a Wachau Cognac.  What you see below would have cost me at least $100.  Triple the eventual cost, as this went on for a long time.  All free because we at this point were still on a stuck ship, with the prospect of spending the rest of the cruise being taken by buses to hotels,

Walked 766 steps two days ago and 340 steps today.

Lunch today was black bean soup, salad and spaghetti putanesca.

There is a story to the above.  Puttana in Italian means whore.  Rumor has it that this sauce, Puttanesca, ws created by prostitutes as a quick meal in between tricks.  I wrote about this 5 years ago.

Tomorrow, a tour of Melk Abbey and a hopeful arrival in Vienna, Austria.  At this point, not a sure thing.

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NORWEGIAN ENCORE CRUISE DAY 21

Cruise began in Seattle on October 13.  We arrive in Miami tomorrow.  However, while almost everyone else leaves the ship, we remain for another two weeks.

About the presidential election in three days, I'm nervous.  The thought of Donald Trump winning and the USA losing Democracy is a feeling I've never had before.  Polls show a close race.  How close?  Go to 538 and also get concerned.  You can scroll down to track what is happening in the Senate and House races...and also moan, if you're a Democrat.

Something new has been added this year, which might not be available in future years,  IT IS NOW LEGAL FOR U.S. CITIZENS TO GAMBLE ON WHO WILL WIN.  

• The odds seem to be set at 48-52, meaning no matter who you vote for, if you bet $50, you will win $48, plus get back the $50.  This could change.

• What happened?
• The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates financial contracts that bet on events, had consistently blocked applications to open up betting.

• 
  But last month, a U.S. district court sided with one of those companies seeking this availability, Kalshi, clearing the way to allow betting.
• The CFTC appealed.  This U.S. government agency was created in 1974 to regulate the U.S. derivatives markets,  Current chairperson is Brooksley Born.

• 
  Like all of Donald Trump's convictions, there won't be any decision until next year, so Kalshi and other companies are now being allowed to handle election betting.
• Kalshi began getting action, and in the first three weeks hit $30 million.  This surged to $139 million yesterday.
• Kalshi has allowed any individual bettor to wage a much as $100 million on the outcome of the November 5 Trump vs Harris election.
• 
  Other companies taking bets are Interactive Brokers and Robinhood.
• You should not confuse the legal betting above with crypto-based betting platforms like Polymarket, which says they are hosting over $2 billion in bets, but from foreign traders.  This is technically banned in the U.S., although encryption internet networks can provide access for the adventuresome. The CFTC slapped the company with a $1.4 million fine in 2022 for opening up their platform to betting.
• 
  There are other unusual platforms.  PredictIT, run by Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, offers contracts with a betting limit of $850.  Apparently, Americans can participate.

Half a century ago, Daylight Savings Time (DST) began on the first Sunday in April and reverted on the last Sunday in October.  Well, in 2007 all that changed.

• Four weeks were added.
• Now, DST starts on the second Sunday in March, and ends on the first Sunday in November.
• 70 countries use some form of DST, meaning most don't bother.  But keep in mind that the dates do not coincide with the U.S.   
• Most of Europe, for example, went ahead and Fell Back one hour a week ago at 1AM.
• Egypt Fell Back at midnight on the last Thursday in October, and will Spring Forward at midnight the last Friday in April.
• 
  Hawaii and Arizona do not observe DST.  We don't need to making any adjustments.
• Florida and California are close to making DST permanent, that is, all year, instead of just March to November.  The Sunshine Protection Act in Congress also might someday make this national.  The motivation is that all this disruption will thus be avoided.

• 
  The reason why this discombobulation occurred was to to conserve energy.  Has it?
• The Department of Energy found about 0.5% drop in electricity usage/day.
• Such a small amount for this inconvenience,
• However, this savings is about the amount of electricity used by more than 100,000 households for an entire year.
• But, the National Bureau of Economic Research showed that demand for heating and cooling increased, so electricity was actually about the same.

So, anyway, the good news is that tonight (technically at 2AM Sunday) you should, Fall Back, or set your clock back an hour, giving you an extra hour to sleep.  Then on March 9, 2025, you will Spring Forward, or move your clock forward an hour, returning you to DST....and lose an hour of sleep.  Studies have been done, and your body does not like this sleep lossage.  As for example, there is an uptick in heart attacks and strokes.

Here on the Norwegian Encore, something magical occurs.  Because of this sailing around, tonight we move from Central to Eastern Time, but instead of adding an hour, we gain back an hour because of DST.  Thus, we do NOTHING to our clock.

Last night, dinner.  First a Double Gin Martini,  I ordered three appetizers, and asked for them all to be brought to the table at the same time.  Never happens. Meatballs.

Asparagus soup.

Her two entrés.  Spaghetti alla Puttanesca (garlic, olives, anchovies and capers--invented in the brothels of Naples--the Italian Putta is whore in English) and lamb shank.

Finally came the Caesar Salad.

Dessert.

Saw Claire Gobin the Theater, and went to the casino for the first time.  Lost a dollar.

7489 steps on Day 20.

Lunch has become my favorite meal of the day.  Always with two alcoholic drinks.  Usually noodles with additives.

Brittles for dessert.

Ice carving.

Well, my final posting on the first phase on the Norwegian Encore.  Tomorrow in Miami we shift from the port side to starboard for another 14 days to Southampton, UK., arriving on November 24.

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